ENGLISH – HRVATSKI: “What were your favorite subjects in high school?”= “Koji su bili tvoji najdraži predmeti u gimnaziji?”

                   Here is the next question for grandfather “Babu” Mile Boban:

 “What were your favorite subjects in high school?”

My dear grandchildren, all of us who went to school had subjects that we loved more than others. The teachers or professors who taught us had the opportunity to observe the behavior and desire of all students in the class. That is why, in addition to various daily subjects, they would ask various questions from various subjects. And the L’alliance Francaise school for learning the French language where I went to in Paris was of an international character. It could be said that there were students from almost every country in the world at that school. The professors knew this and every Tuesday  they would give the students a topic called redaction (French “Redaction”) or English essay about which they would have to write and give an answer to the topic. Sometimes the professors would give the students a freestyle topic, so that the students could bring stories of pastimes they went through. The professors did this on purpose in order to learn from the students about the expressions of the ideas of various peoples of the world.

My dear grandchildren, this free style of writing personal experiences that I went through gave me the idea to describe a funny story. The beginning of the story is true and the rest of the story is a fictional story that I gave to my teacher at the Alliance Francaise school in Paris in 1963. And the interesting thing about this story are that the teacher put my story in a box that was on the wall in the hallway where the most interesting events of the stories were put. So the story of your grandfather “Babu” Mila Boban was in the hallway in that box on display for many months, if not a year. My professor was Belgian, born almost on the border between France and Belgium, so he felt French too. He helped me a lot in the grammatical sense of the French language. He was not married even though he was over 42 years old. I forgot his name.

Now I continue with the story:

“My aunt Jaka, the sister of my father Petar, was married and had no children. My parents had fifteen (15) children and she would come to her brother Petar in the spring and ask him to give me to her for a couple of weeks to help them. in the house and to do some work around the house. My father agreed to it and I went to her house. Her husband, Mate, was there. They were going to work on Monday and asked me to look after the house and everything around the house. They left and I stayed at home to look after the chickens in front of the house. Over the fence, I saw a few boys running after the soccer ball. I asked them if I could play soccer with them. They agreed very well. What I did was that I took a string, tied the chicken to the hen. The hen and the chickens are now tied and cannot escape.I’m with the boys now and I’m playing soccer; and in a few minutes we all saw a large raven carrying  hen and chicks in its claws, chirping so loudly that even the neighbors could hear the uproar. One of the neighbors went to the field where my uncle and aunt were working and told them all about it. After almost an hour, my uncle Mate and aunt Jaka came and made a big noise at me, telling me that they had left me in their garden and that I should not have left.. I admit, truth be told, they didn’t beat me, although they had the right, but they scolded me to such an extent that I left, thinking of going home to Bobanova Draga, where I was born.I headed over the hill in a southeasterly direction towards my village. The nights are drawing in and I am more than three hours away from my village. Walking through the forest, night has already fallen, I have no light, the sky is cloudy, nothing can be seen, I feel from tree to tree with my hands. I’m very confused, because I don’t know where I’m going anymore. Wandering through the forest like that, I noticed a light in the distance. I headed towards that light. When I got closer to the light, I noticed a group of funny people with a single eye on their forehead. They were giants. One of them saw me and came up to me saying something that I couldn’t understand. He brought me to the others. All of them were bearded and sat around the fire, eating and drinking from a barrel. They put me near the fire and they said something loudly that I couldn’t understand. When they emptied the barrel, they opened the top of the barrel and put me in the barrel and replaced the lid, so that I am now in the barrel. They left a hole open in the middle of the barrel so that I have air to breathe. These bearded men with one eye on their forehead rolled the barrel down the hill. The barrel was rolling and I’m in the barrel so I don’t even know where the barrel is rolling. At one point I felt that the barrel hit something so hard that it shattered into pieces.

Now I am here alone in front of a big tree. It is night, there is no moon, the stars are visible, but I don’t know how long it will be until dawn. Around me I hear the voices of nocturnal animals. Out of fear, I started climbing up the tree so that I could reach the top of the tree. Unfortunately for me, there was a big hole at the top of the tree through which I fell all the way to the bottom of the tree. Thank God that I  didn’t injure myself at all, but that’s why I was in great uncertainty as to what would happen to me now. I just prayed to God to forgive me of all my sins, of any kind if I had any. And thus standing in the tree, because I could not sit, I fell asleep.

When suddenly I hear some voices of some people. I hear people say that they will cut down this tree and that they will have enough wood for the stove for the whole year. One says let’s cut it right at the bottom, while the other says no, let’s cut it one meter above the ground so that branches start to grow from the stump of that tree again. And they started sawing the tree one meter above the ground. I crouched so that the saw went over my head. When the tree fell, a man with a large and long beard leaned over the hole in the tree. When he saw me, he and his company got scared and ran away and never came back.

What will I do now? I told myself that I was free now and would head home. I took what those people left there and ran away. These were their carts, horses and the tools they had for cutting wood. I got into the car, took the horse reins and headed towards the house of my aunt Jaka and aunt Mate. When on the way people saw me happy and singing, they started whistling as a sign that I wasn’t lost, and the voice quickly reached my aunt Jake and aunt Mata from ear to ear. When they heard that, they came out in front of the house, put their hands over their eyes so they could see better what was happening. People clapped for joy, because almost everyone thought that I was completely lost wandering in the night in an unknown forest.

Now I am in front of my aunt and uncle’s house. I got off the cart and hugged my aunt Jaka and aunt Mata, saying to them: Forgive me for everything I did wrong for you and put you in great  worry. These carts, horses and tools are for you and this value can compensate you for all the troubles you had from yesterday until now…”

My dear grandchildren, this story is fictional, but that’s why it was known to many, and through these many, many others got to know this story. French school Alliance Francaise where your grandfather “Babu” Mile Boban went to school, his teacher, a Belgian, put this story on the wall board in the school corridor for all students to learn how interesting stories are made up.

Your eternal grandfather “Babu” Mile Boban,
Austin, Texas
on October 15, 2024.

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                                                        Prijevod na Hrvatski

                      Evo sljedećeg pitanja za djeda “Babu” Milu Bobana:     

                      “Koji su bili tvoji nadraži predmeti u gimnaziji?”

Dragi moji unuci svi mi koji smo išli u školu smo imali predmete koje smo voljeli više od drugih. Učitelji ili profesori koji su nas učili imali su priliku uočiti vladanje i želju svih đaka u razredu. Zato bi oni uz razne dnevne predmeti postavljali iz razna pitanja raznih sadržaja. I škola L’alliance Fransaise za učenje francuskog jezika koju sam ja u Parizu išao je bila međunarodnog karaktera. Moglo bi se reći da je skoro iz svake države u svijetu bilo studenta u toj školi. To su profesori znali i svakog utorka u tjednu bi đacima dali temu imenom obrada (francuski “Redaction”) ili engleski “Wording” o kojoj se treba pisati i dati odgovor na temu. Kadkada profesori bi dali đacima slobodni stil teme, tako da đaci mogu donijeti priče razonode kroz koje su prošli. To su profesori namjerno činili kako bi od đaka skoro saznali izražaje ideja raznih naroda svijeta.

Dragi moji unuci taj slobodni stil pisanja osobnih dogodovština kroz koje sam prošao mi je dao ideju da je opišem jednu šaljivu priču. Početak priče je istinit a ostalo te priče je izmišljena priča koju sam ja dao mom profesoru u školi Alliance Francaise u Parizu godine 1963. I zanimljivosti ove priče su takve da je taj profesor stavio moju priču u kutiju koja je bila na zidu u hodniku u koju su se stavljale najzanimljivije dogodovštine priča. Tako je priča vašeg djeda “Babu” Mile Bobana bila na hodniku u toj kutiji na izložbi za pregled više mjeseci, ako ne i godinu dana. Moj profesor je bio Belgijanac, rođen skoro na granici između Francuske i Belgije tako da se je on osjećao i Francuzom. On je u gramatičkom smislu francuskog jezika mene mnogo pomogao. Nije bio oženjen iako je prešao 42 godine. Ja sam mu zaboravio ime.

Sada nastavljam sa pričom:

“Moja tetka Jaka, setra mog oca Petra je bila udata i nije imala djece. Moji roditelji su imali petnaestero (15) djece i ona bi u proljeće došla kod svog brata Petra i zamolila ga da on njoj dadne mene za par tjedana da im pomognem u kući i oko kuće raditi neke potrebne poslove. Moj otac je na to pristao i sa tetkom ja sam otišao kod nje. Tu u kući je bio njezin suprug Mate, moj tetak. To je bila nedjelja. Sutra ponedjeljak oni odlaze na rad a mene zadužili da im čuvam kuću i sve koklo kuće. Oni su otišli a ja sam ostao kući čuvati kvočku i piliće pred kućom. Preko ograde njihova susjeda vidim ja nekoliko dečkića kako galame i trče za nogometnom loptom. Ja ih pitam bili i ja mogao nogomet igrati sa njima. Oni su vrlo rado pristali. Šta sam ja sada učinio je to da sam uzeo špagu, zavezao pile za pile i sve skupa zavezao za kvočku. Kvočka i pilići su sada zavezani i ne mogu pobjeći.Ja sam sada sa dečkima i igram se nogometa; a za nekoliko minuta svi smo mi vidjeli kako jedan veliki gavran kako on u svojim pandžama nosi kvočku i piliće koji tako glasno cvrkoću da su i susjedi tu galamu mogli čuti. Netko od susjeda je otišao u polje gdje su radili moj tetak i tetka te im to javili. Poslije skoro sat vremena došli su moj tetak Mate i tetka Jaka i na mene sasuli veliku galamu, govoreći mi da su oni mene ostavili u svojoj bašti a ne da idem u susjednu bašču. Priznajem, istini za volju, nisu me tukli, iako su imali pravo, ali su me izgrdili do tolike mjere da sam ja otišao, misleći ići kuću u Bobanovu Dragu gdje sam rođen.Ja sam se uputio preko brda u pravcu jugoistok prema mom selu. Noće se primiče a ja sam više od tri sata daleko od mog sela. Hodajući kroz šumu, noć je već pala, ja nemam svjetla, nebo oblačno, ništa se ne vidi, od stabla do stabla rukama pipam. Vrlo sam zbunjen, jer više ne znam kuda idem. Lutajući tako kroz šumu u daljini sam opazio jedno svjetlo. Uputio sam se prema tom svijetlu. Kad sam se približio k svjetlu primjetio sam grupu smiješnih ljudi s jednim okom na čelu. To su bili divovi. Jedan od njih je mene vidio i prišao k meni govoreći nešto što ja nisam mogao razumjeti. Priveo me je k ostalima. Svi su bradati i oko vatre sjedili, jeli i iz bačve pili. Mene stavili blizu vatre i nešto su glasno pričali što mi nije bilo jasno. Kada su bačvu ispraznili, otvorili su jedno dno bačve i mene u bačvu stavili i to dno od bačve opet stavili na isto mjesto, tako da sam ja sada u bačvi. Ostavili su na sredini bačve onu rupu otvorenu tako da ja imam zraka za disanje. Ovi bradati ljudi s jednim okom na čelu su bačvu zakoturali niz brdo. Bačva se je kotrljala a ja sam u bačvi da ni sam ne znam kud se bačva kotrlja. U jednom trenutku osjetih ja da je bačva udarila u nešto tako jako da se je bačva rasula u komadiće.

Sada sam ja tu sam pred jednim velikim stablom. Noć je, mjeseca nema, zvijezde se vide ali ne znam koliko je još dugo dok se svane. Oko sebe čujem glasove noćnih životinja. Od straha ja se počmem penjati uz stablo tako da sam došao do vrh stabla. Na moju žalost na vrh stabla je bila jedna velika rupa kroz koju sam ja pao sve do dna stabla. Fala Bogu da se nisam skoro nimalo ozlijedio, ali sam zato bio u velikoj neizvjesnosti šta će sada biti od mene. Samo sam se Bogu molio da mi oprosti sve grijehe, bilo koje vrste ako sam ih imao. I tako stojeći u stablu, jer nisam mogao sjediti, sam zaspao.

Kad najedno očuh ja neke glasove nekih ljudi. Čujem ih govoriti kako će oni ovo stablo osjeći i da će imati dovoljne drva za šporet za cijelu godinu. Jedan govori sijecimo ga odmah pri dnu, dok drugi govori ne, sijecimo ga jedan metar iznad zemlje tako da opet iz panja tog stabla počmu grane rasti. I oni počmu stablo pilati jedan metar iznad zemlje. Ja sam se slegao tako da je pila išla iznad moje glave. Kada je stablo palo, jedan čovjek s velikom i dugom bradom se nadviro nad rupu stabla. Kad je mene vidio uplašio se je on i njegov društvo i od srtaha pobjegli su da se više nisu ni vratili.

Šta ću ja sada činiti? Sam sebi sam rekao da sam sada slobodan i da ću se uputiti kući. Uzeo sam što su ti ljudi tu ostavili i pobjegli. To su bila njihova kola, konji i alat koji su imali za sjeći drvo. Sjeo sam u kola, uzeo konjske uzde i uputio se prema kući moje tetke Jake i tetka Mate. Kada su me u putu ljudi vidjeli kako sam veseo i pjevam, počeli su zvizdati u znak da ja nisam izgubljen i od uhao do uha brzinom je glas stigao i do moje tetke Jake i tetka Mate. Kada su oni to očuli izišli su pred kuću, ruke stavili iznad njihovih očiju da bolje vide šta se dešava. Ljudi su pleskali od veselja, jer skoro svi su mislili da sam ja potpuno bio izgubljen lutajući po noći nepoznatom šumom.Sada sam ja pred kućom moje tetke i mojeg tetka. Sašao sam sa kola i zagrlio moju tetku Jaku i tetka Matu govoreći im: Oprostite mi za sve što sam pogrešno učinio za vas i stavio vas u veliku iskušnju i brigu. Ova kola, konji i alat su za vas i ova vrijednost može vam nadoknaditi sve tegobe koje ste imali od jučer pa sve do sada…”

Dragi moji unuci ova priča je izmišljena ali je zato bila poznata mnogima a preko ovih mnogih su mnogi drugi upoznali ovu priču. Francuska škola Alliance Francaise gdje je vaš djed “Babu” Mile Boban išao u školu, njegov profesor, Belgijanac je ovu priču stavio na zidnu tablu u školskom hodniku za sve đake da se upoznaju kako se zanimljive priče izmišljaju.

Vaš vječiti djed “Babu” Mile Boban,
Austin, Texas
dne 15 listopada 2024.